From bestselling husband and wife team Kevin Henkes and Laura Dronzek.
FINDING THINGS
by Kevin Henkes, illustrated by Laura Dronzek
Greenwillow Books, April 2024
If you were on a walk and found a ball, you could take it home and play with it. You are likely to find many other wonderful things as you explore the world—maybe even a new friend—and that makes you very lucky.
Award-winning creators Kevin Henkes and Laura Dronzek’s collaborations are always exceptional; full of vivid and deceptively simple observations of the world around us. FINDING THINGS features a succinct text and exquisite, emotionally rich illustrations, and it encourages readers to be creative and to find purpose and connections in what surrounds them. A terrific read-aloud to treasure and share, as well as a great title for visual literacy and emerging readers, Finding Things is also a wonderful choice for social and emotional learning.
Kevin Henkes has been praised both as a writer and as an illustrator and is the recipient of the Children’s Literature Legacy Award for his lasting contribution to literature for children. He received the Caldecott Medal for Kitten’s First Full Moon; Caldecott Honors for Waiting and Owen; two Newbery Honors—one for Olive’s Ocean and one for The Year of Billy Miller—and Geisel Honors for Waiting and Penny and Her Marble. His other books include Sun Flower Lion, A Parade of Elephants, Chrysanthemum, and the beloved Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse. Kevin Henkes lives with his family in a house in Madison, Wisconsin.
Laura Dronzek is a painter whose work has been exhibited nationally. Her picture books include Moonlight, by Helen V. Griffith; It Is Night, by Phyllis Rowand; White Is for Blueberry, by George Shannon; Little Houses, by Kevin Henkes; and a quartet of seasonal picture books also by Kevin Henkes. She lives in Madison, Wisconsin.
It’s Christmas and the Miller family is celebrating their first holiday with the new baby. Uncle Jake is visiting which makes Billy very happy. But Sal? Not so much. In fact, nothing about this holiday is making Sal happy. The baby is a noisy nuisance and is hogging all of Mama’s attention. Plus, the baby doesn’t even have a name yet. And to make matters worse, Sal has lost her favorite pair of brand new underpants one of the very special set of seven Santa gave her for Christmas! Will Sal find her present? Will the Millers find a name for the baby? Will Billy always be an obnoxious big brother? Will Uncle Jake constantly put his foot in his mouth? The holiday season is full of surprises and warmth, kindness, family, celebration, and love in the hands of award winning house author Kevin Henkes . Oh, Sal is an excellent choice for younger middle grade readers, as well as a terrific family and classroom read aloud. Illustrated throughout with black and white art by the author.
When a young girl visits her grandparents at the beach, she stays in a little house and walks along the shore gathering seashell s which were once little houses of their own. As she wanders the beach, she wonders about the creatures who used to live in each shell, about the hidden treasures of the sea, and about what it would be like to know the answers to everything. Kevin Henkes’s text features striking imagery, depth of meaning, and a lovely multigenerational relationship. He deftly captures the feeling of wonder and imagination that is fostered by a trip to the shore.